Scottish Executive

Employment

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to address the above average unemployment rate in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government, which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

  Within the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross catchment area, as at end December 2000, 598 young clients have participated in the New Deal for Young People and 697 clients have participated in the New Deal 25+.

  The town of Wick (and the surrounding rural areas covered by postcode KW1), the Ormlie Housing Estate and the Recruit Sutherland campaign are also benefiting from "Action Team for Jobs" assistance. "Action Teams for Jobs" is a Department for Education and Employment initiative that provides additional, flexible assistance to jobseekers in discrete areas of high unemployment.

  In addition to these UK initiatives, the Scottish Executive, through its economic development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and its local enterprise companies, Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE) and Ross and Cromarty Enterprise (RACE), is taking forward a number of projects to address unemployment within the area. The following are examples of these initiatives:

  Alternative employment opportunities created in Easter Ross include nearly 1,000 jobs in information technology related companies over the past three years including over 300 in the last 12 months.

  Development of advance office/commercial premises, notably the construction of 9,000 square feet at Alness Point business park at a cost of £1 million and several significant serviced sites at Dingwall Business Park costing £1.5 million.

  Establishment of the Cromarty Industries Group involving a wide range of private sector operators, many in the Easter Ross area, which has produced a strategy for a partnership with the HIE Network, including RACE, to help with diversification of market opportunities both at home and abroad.

  Assisting Business Start-Ups under the new HIE Starts programme which is a flexible scheme allowing potential new business starts to remain in part-time employment until their business develops to the full-time stage. Additionally, there is no longer a requirement for an individual to have been unemployed for six weeks prior to start-up.

  Undertaking projects such as the business parks in Wick and Golspie to attract inward investment and employment to areas of high unemployment. The total investment in the two parks is just under £2 million.

  Skills development for unemployed workers including Safety Passport Training to develop a pool of potential workers for Dounreay decommissioning-related projects.

  Support for redundant workers including BARMAC ex-employees and contractors.

  Specialist small-scale intermediate labour market projects commencing in Sutherland and one under discussion for Wick.

  Development of additional support for offenders and those at risk.

Exam Results

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10929 by Mr Jack McConnell on 16 March 2001, how many claims have been submitted to date, and for how much, for additional costs incurred as a result of the 2000 examinations diet, broken down by (a) local authority, (b) further education institution and (c) higher education institution; how much money has been allocated in the current financial year to meet the cost of any such claims, again broken down by (a), (b) and (c), and how much money has been allocated in 2001-02 to cover such claims.

Mr Jack McConnell: As announced in response to question S1W-10929, the Scottish Executive agreed to consider any claims submitted by local authorities concerning additional costs arising from the 2000 examinations diet.

  In order to minimise the administrative burden on local authorities and in consideration that all authorities were affected by the difficulties with the summer 2000 exam results, I have decided to make an "ex gratia" payment to each local authority. All payments have been made during financial year 2000-01 and therefore no additional payments will be made during financial year 2001-02. The table sets out the payments made, which are based on the number of schools and pupils in each authority:

  


Local Authority 
  

Payment 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

£26,781 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

£35,166 
  



Angus 
  

£17,120 
  



Argyll & Bute 
  

£17,034 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

£6,775 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

£28,128 
  



Dundee City 
  

£21,189 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

£20,035 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

£19,871 
  



East Lothian 
  

£12,340 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

£15,855 
  



Edinburgh City 
  

£47,856 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

£15,411 
  



Falkirk 
  

£18,693 
  



Fife 
  

£47,776 
  



Glasgow City 
  

£67,756 
  



Highland 
  

£46,480 
  



Inverclyde 
  

£16,194 
  



Midlothian 
  

£12,801 
  



Moray 
  

£15,091 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

£21,385 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

£54,564 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

£7,759 
  



Perth & Kinross 
  

£19,620 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

£28,840 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

£17,326 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

£11,038 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

£18,800 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

£46,598 
  



Stirling 
  

£14,110 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

£13,581 
  



West Lothian 
  

£23,764 
  



Total 
  

£785,736

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will initiate a public information campaign on television and local radio stations explaining the necessary advice with regard to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive and other bodies, such as the NFUS, are providing regular guidance, advice and information to farmers, the public at large and other key interests. This is being done at national level but local media interests are helping as appropriate. Detailed advice has been given to farmers on the Welfare Movements Scheme, the Movement to Slaughter Scheme and the Welfare Disposal Scheme (via the Distribution Board). Additionally, farmers in the Dumfries and Galloway subject to the slaughter cull have been kept appraised of developments by letter or telephone. Helplines have been and remain in operation at the SERAD HQ and various regional offices.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has received from Her Majesty’s Government regarding the precise source and cause of the current foot-and-mouth disease outbreak and whether the possibility that the virus may have come from a landfill site at Brankley located about five miles from the farm at Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland has been discounted.

Ross Finnie: The Brankley landfill site has been discounted by epidemiologists as the source of the virus. The virus is a type O Asian strain and has been imported, possibly in infected meat products. Work continues to identify possible routes with which the virus has gained entry. The source farm currently is thought to be a pig farm at Burnside, Heddon on the Wall.

Health

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what it will do to ensure that the criteria laid down by the Royal Colleges which govern the consultant establishment in specialised medical provision take account of areas of sparse population and are not based solely on population totals.

Susan Deacon: The consultant establishment is decided by the local health board, in consultation with the NHS Trusts in its area, in order to provide a modern, flexible service matched to local needs. Criteria produced by Royal Colleges do not govern the consultant establishment, although boards will have regard to them. The development of managed clinical networks, the work of the Remote And Rural Areas Resource Initiative (RARARI) and the commitment in Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change for boards in rural areas to draw up plans for rolling out good practice from RARARI projects, will assist boards which have areas of sparse population. Health boards’ and NHS Trusts’ performance is judged on the services they provide and their effect on health, which will be addressed by a new performance framework as indicated in Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change .

Justice

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why James William Murray, formerly of Tarbolton, has been released from prison after serving nine months of the three and a half years to which he was sentenced on 1 June 2000.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:-

  Mr Murray appealed against his sentence at the High Court in Glasgow on 1 September 2000. The court quashed his original sentence and substituted it with an 18 month sentence effective from 1 June 2000. Mr Murray was therefore released on the appropriate date.

Justice

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why the release from prison of James William Murray, formerly of Tarbolton, was not intimated in advance to his victims or their families.

Mr Jim Wallace: The release of Mr Murray was not intimated to his victims or their families as they were not eligible to be included in the current Victim Notification Scheme (VNS). The VNS provides for the victims of violent or sexual crimes or their next of kin to be notified when their assailant is due to be released from custody, but only where the assailant has been sentenced to a prison term of four years or more. Mr Murray did not fall within the scheme since he received a sentence of less than four years, namely of three years six months which was later reduced to 18 months on appeal.

  The Scottish Strategy for Victims which was published in December last year made clear the Executive’s commitment to improve support for victims, including greater provision of information. Options for extending the Victim Notification Scheme to a wider range of prisoners are being considered, along with other possible changes to the scheme, as part of implementation of the strategy.

Landfill

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what possible health hazards are posed by landfill sites close to human habitation; whether any such sites can be a source of infection of any particular disease, and, if so, which ones.

Ross Finnie: Studies into the effects on human health of living close to landfill sites have suggested that there is a need for further research. The Scottish Executive and UK Government Departments therefore commissioned the Small Areas Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) last year to investigate the incidence of a range of cancers and birth defects around 7,000 landfill sites in the UK. SAHSU is due to report by the end of May.

Landfill

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what risk of pollution to rivers landfill sites pose and what measures and safeguards are in place to reduce any such risk.

Ross Finnie: There is a potential risk to water courses from leachate. Accordingly modern landfill sites are operated to minimise water ingress and leachate is extracted and treated to a high standard before being discharged. New landfill sites will be regulated by the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000 and will have to meet the conditions in the EC Landfill Directive, which requires sites to be situated and designed so as to meet the necessary conditions for preventing the pollution of soil, groundwater or surface water.

Landfill

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the National Waste Strategy and national planning advice would prevent the granting of permission for a landfill site at mid Lairgs Quarry if it was shown that there was a risk of water pollution to the River Nairn from the catchment area of the proposed site.

Ross Finnie: If an application for planning permission for a landfill site at Mid-Lairgs were to be made, the National Waste Strategy: Scotland and National Planning Policy Guidelines would be important factors in its determination by the local authority. The application would also be accompanied by an environmental impact assessment which, amongst other things, would examine the risk that the proposed site posed to the River Nairn. In addition, the site would be regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency under the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000 and would have to meet the conditions in the EC Landfill Directive. The directive requires sites to be situated and designed so as to meet the necessary conditions for preventing the pollution of soil, groundwater or surface water.

Legislation

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13602 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 March 2001, what the proposed timetable is for the enactment of the Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill and how soon thereafter it plans to introduce the Tenement (Scotland) Bill.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill will mark the second stage in the Property Law Reform Programme commenced by the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000. We plan to launch a consultation exercise on the draft Title Conditions Bill later this spring. Following the consultation period, we hope to bring the Bill before Parliament as soon as an opportunity arises in the legislative programme. As indicated in the answer to question S1W-13602 on 9 March 2001, the proposals for a Tenement Bill will require to be redrafted in the light of the Title Conditions Bill as it is passed by Parliament. It is not possible at this stage to say exactly when a Tenement Bill may be introduced, as it will depend upon legislative time being found.

Licensing

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when the composition and remit of the independent committee to conduct a comprehensive review of licensing laws, as announced by the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care during the debate on alcohol misuse on 7 December 2000, will be announced.

Mr Jim Wallace: We are still considering the composition of the committee but expect to be in a position to make an announcement shortly. The proposed remit of the committee will be:

  "To review all aspects of liquor licensing law and practice in Scotland, with particular reference to the implications for health and public order; to recommend changes in the public interest; and to report accordingly."

Maternity Services

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to ensure the availability of maternity services of the highest standard across the Argyll and Clyde Health Board area and whether it will guarantee the continuance of consultant-led maternity services at Inverclyde Royal Hospital, Vale of Leven Hospital and the Royal Alexandria Hospital.

Susan Deacon: The provision of maternity services in Argyll and Clyde is a matter for Argyll and Clyde Health Board and its NHS Trusts. Any proposals for significant change or reconfiguration of maternity services must be subject to comprehensive public consultation.

  The Framework for Maternity Services, published in February, establishes clear action points and recommendations to enable NHS Boards, NHS Trusts and other agencies to put in place maternity services appropriate to the needs of women in Scotland.

  The Chief Executive of NHSScotland wrote to Chairmen and Chief Executives of health boards and NHS Trusts on 2 February emphasising the importance of the framework for the future local planning of maternity services. By August this year, NHS boards and Trusts will be required to demonstrate that current maternity services strategies have been tested against the framework.

Post Offices

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it plans to take to tackle any postcode discrimination in determining rates relief for rural post offices.

Peter Peacock: The criteria for assessing eligibility for the rural rates relief scheme are as set out in my answer to question S1W-14312. The Scottish Executive is not aware of any discrimination in the implementation of the scheme.

Rural Development

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the criteria used to determine qualification for rural rates relief.

Peter Peacock: Mandatory rates relief of 50% is awarded to sole village shops and post offices with a rateable value of £6,000 or less in settlements of 3,000 people or less. This may be topped up to 100% at the local authority’s discretion.

  In such settlements, local authorities may also grant discretionary rates relief of up to 100% to properties, with a rateable value of £12,000 or less, which are of benefit to the local community.

  We are consulting on extension of the rural rates relief scheme to pubs, garages and shops that are not sole village shops. Our consultation paper is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. no. 11605).

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many visitors came to Scotland through rail-based breaks in each year since 1997.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: The information available is in respect of UK holiday tourists who use rail as their main means of transport to Scottish destinations. It is as follows:

  Holiday Tourist Trips by Train to Scotland by UK Residents

  

 

1997 
  

1998 
  

1999 
  



From Scotland 
  

220,000 
  

230,000 
  

100,000 
  



From England 
  

350,000 
  

290,000 
  

370,000 
  



From Wales 
  

30,000 
  

10,000 
  

2,000 
  



Total UK 
  

600,000 
  

530,000 
  

472,000 
  



  Source: UKTS.